13 Facts About the 13 Colonies-- Part 2

Again, go to the site for more information.

7.  New Hampshire offered parcels of land in exchange  for one ear of corn each year.  (Sounds like a deal to me.)

8.  Georgia was founded as a new haven for debtors and impoverished people.

9.  New York became  the first target of British trade restrictions -- for exporting fur hats.

10.  South Carolina benefited from the demand for blue dye.

11.  North Carolina was sold back to the British Crown.

12.  Rhode Island played a big role in the slave trade.  (By 1775, slaves made up 11.5% of its population.)

13.  Delaware really wasn't  formed until 1776.

--CootCol

The Old Slave Mart in Charleston, SC

From the May28, 2009, St. Petersburg (Fl) Times "Museum offers quiet testimony to horrors of slavery" by John Frank.

The Old Slave Mart is a relatively new attraction in this city of attractions. It is the only remaining slave auction house in the country and located at 6 Chalmers St. near East Bay Street downtown.

Prominent slave auctioneer Thomas Ryan opened it July 1856 after Charleston banned the outdoor auction of slaves. It was known as Ryan's Mart.

About 40% of enslaved blacks came through Charleston, most landing on Sullivan's Island. First Lady Michelle Obama's ancestors came through Charleston. Her great-great grandfather worked on a rice plantation in Georgetown.

The museum has lots of information on the slave selling business and a first-hand account of slavery by Elijah Green, born in 1843 and recorded by the WPA in 1937. The museum itself is small as most of the compound was torn down, with just a roofed alley left.

A Sad Part of American History. --DaCoot

Slave Ship Amistad to Pay Visit to Cuba

March 18th Goldsboro News Argus, AP. "A Symbol of the slave trade joins US and Cuba."

The ten-year-old Freedom Schooner Amistad, the official tall ship of Connecticut is scheduled to sail into Havana, Cuba, tomorrow in part of a ten-day, two city trip to that island country. It was from Cuba that the Amistad sailed in 1839 with a cargo of African slaves where it entered into history and became an abolitionist rallying cry.

What is surprising even more is that the US still has its 47-year-old embargo going on against Cuba. But, the retelling of the story of the African slave trade trumps the embargo.

The ship has already visited West Africa, and in particular Sierra Leone where many of the slaves came from.

Definitely a Case of History Trumping Current Events. --Cooter